Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to ditch plans to overhaul the disciplinary process for MPs.
His U-turn came less than 24 hours after Conservative MPs voted to block the suspension of Owen Paterson from parliament over his conduct.
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has now said the government will seek to make “cross-party” changes to disciplinary processes.
These may not “apply retrospectively” to protect the MP for North Shropshire from suspension.
Response to the Vote
The cross-party Standards Committee had found Mr Paterson had broken parliamentary lobbying rules.
Mr Paterson is said to have repeatedly lobbied the government on behalf of two companies paying him over £100,000 a year.
The Committee recommended Mr Patterson should be suspended from Parliament for 30 days.
On Wednesday, Tory MPs were whipped to vote against Mr Paterson’s suspension.
They favoured a Tory-led review into the disciplinary process.
Opposition MPs cried “shame” as the amendment passed.
They expressed their disapproval of the planned review before.
They would also not cooperate with the government to change the system.
Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of “wallowing in sleaze” and voting to “let off one of their own”.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon tweeted:
This is classic corruption – protecting the MP found guilty of a standards breach and now trying to hound the independent investigator out of office. Yesterday was a dark day for the Commons – but also a reminder of the risks this Tory govt poses to basic democratic norms https://t.co/GiJaBqRuJK
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) November 4, 2021
What Happens Next?
Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle has approved an application by Lib Dem MP, Wendy Chamberlain.
This concerned an emergency debate on the consequences of the vote.
A three-hour debate on the standards system will take place on Monday 8th November.
Tory MPs won’t be whipped in a fresh vote on Mr Paterson’s suspension.
This includes wider changes to the standards procedure.
This is a developing story, we will bring you more details as they come. Please refresh the page to update.
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